Steinberg Groove Agent 4 Manual

							Installation and Setup
Setting Up11
2. On the Instrument pop-up menu, select  Groove Agent.
3. Click  Ad
 d Track to create the instrument track.
4. Click the  Edit Instrument  bu
 tton in the Inspector to open the Groove Agent 
control panel.
RESULT 
Groove Agent is set up as a VST instrume nt in your DAW. For more information 
about working with VST instruments, see the Operation Manual of your DAW.
Selecting Outputs
Groove Agent loads with a stereo output co nfiguration by default. However, you can 
use additional outputs in the Steinberg DAW. This allows you to route all kit slots to 
a dedicated channel in the MixConsole.
PROCEDURE
1. To make the outputs available, open the  VST Instruments window.
2. Click the Activate Outputs  button for the instrument.
3. Activate the outputs that you want to use.
RESULT 
The Steinberg DAW automatically adds an  output channel for each additional 
output to the MixConsole.
Using Groove Agent in an AU-Compatible Application
You can use Groove Agent in an AU host application, for example, Logic. The AU 
version of Groove Agent is installed in yo ur AU plug-ins folder and lets Groove 
Agent work in an AU environment without  any performance loss or incompatibilities.
PROCEDURE
1. For Logic Pro, open the Track Mixer and select the instrument channel that 
you want to use.
2. Click in the  I/O field and select  AU Instruments > Steinberg > Groove 
Agent .
3. Select one of the available channel configurations.
RESULT 
Groove Agent is now loaded as an AU instrument. 
						

							Installation and Setup
Setting Up12
Using the Instrument as Standalone Application
Groove Agent can be used as a standalone application, independently of any host 
application. In this case, you can connect the instrument directly to your audio 
hardware.
R
ELATED LINKS
Using the Standalone Version of the Plug-In on  page 178 
						

							13
Introduction
Window Overview
The application interface follows a fixed-size single window concept.
The window is subdivided into several sections:
• The plug-in functions section at the top.
• The kit slot section and the kit rack below the plug-in functions section.
• The pad section on the left.
• The edit display on the right. It c
 ontains the Load, Edit , Mixer , and Options  
pages.
• At the bottom of the panel, you can display a keyboard.
• If you are using the standalone version of Groove Agent, you find a number of  spec
 ific functions in an extra section  at the top of the application window. 
						

							Introduction
About Kits, Presets, and Groove Agent ONE Content14
About Kits, Presets, and Groove Agent ONE Content
Kits
Kits contain all information about the kit or sliced loop and about the insert effects 
that are used on the mixer channel. Kits can also contain MIDI patterns.
Kits can be saved and loaded via the kit rack or the kit slot section.
Kit Rack
Kit Slot Section
Sliced Loop Kits
Instead of MIDI patterns, sliced loop kits contain the MIDI phrase that is needed to 
play back the loop. Other than that, sliced l oop kits are similar to regular kits, in that 
they can use insert effects, etc.
Plug-in Presets (VST Presets)
A plug-in preset contains all information necessary to restore the complete state of 
the plug-in. This includes all 4 kits, the MIDI patterns, as well as any insert and AUX 
effects. All of these settings are also saved with the project in your host application.
Groove Agent ONE Content
Groove Agent can load Groove Agent ON E presets. The presets can either be 
loaded as kits in the kit rack or the kit slot  section or as plug-in presets via the preset 
management menu in the plug-in header.
If you load a Groove Agent ONE preset as a plug-in preset, the global plug-in 
parameters are set to the default values.
If you load a preset as a kit, all glob al plug-in parameters remain unchanged.
NOTE
Groove Agent ONE presets always show the icon for a plug-in preset in the 
MediaBay, even if they are shown in the preset loader. 
						

							Introduction
About Kits, Presets, and Groove Agent ONE Content15
Content Files and Folder Structure
Groove Agent comes with a large amount of ready-to-use sound content. This 
content is write-protected.  You can edit files while they are loaded, but you cannot 
overwrite the factory content files.
To save edits to the factory content, sa ve the files under a new name. These files 
get the file name extension  .vstpreset and are referred to as user content. They 
can be searched and categorized in the same way as factory content.
User content is saved in a predefined fold er structure on your hard disk. You can 
create subfolders within this structure to facilitate moving or exchanging content. 
						

							16
Managing Your Sounds
Loading Kits
There are several ways to load kits:
• Via drag & drop from the Windows Explorer/Mac OS Finder.
• Via the context menu in the kit rack.
• By clicking the  Load Kit 
 button at the right of the kit name in the kit slot 
section.
• Via the  Med
 iaBay or the  Browser
Kit Slot
This section shows the name of the loaded  kit. In addition, the following global 
controls are available:
Load button
 Click this button to show the list of available kits.
You can also click the kit name to open  th
 is list. Right-click the kit name to 
open the kit context menu.
Load Previous/Next Kit Click these buttons to load the previous/next kit from the list of available kits.
Load Kit with Patterns Activate this button to make sure that kits are always loaded together with 
their pa
 tterns.
Size Shows the size of all loaded samples. 
						

							Managing Your Sounds
Kit Rack17
PolyphonyAdjusts the polyphony of the kit.
MIDI Channel Sets the MIDI channel for the kit.
MIDI Input Indicator The MIDI symbol starts blinking if incoming MIDI signals are detected.
Velocity Curve Sets the velocity response curve of the kit. This allows you to adapt the kit to 
yo
ur hardware MIDI controller or playing style.
Song Position Counter The song position counter shows the current song position in bars, beats, and 
16t
h notes. If you activate the  Play button in Groove Agent, the song position 
counter always starts at 1.0.0. 0 and runs until you click stop.
Tempo Display The tempo display next to the position counter shows the tempo of the host 
application.
Kit Rack
The Kit rack can be found to the right of the kit slot section. It gives you an overview 
over the loaded kits and their corresponding agent, and allows you to perform some 
kit editing for the selected kit via the context menu.
• To select a kit, click on it. 
						

							Managing Your Sounds
Kit Context Menu18
Kit Context Menu
Load KitOpens a pop-up menu containing the available kits. Double-click a kit to load 
it.
Load Kit With Patterns Allows you to load a kit with  
 its MIDI patterns, if any.
Load Pattern Group Allows you to load a predefined set of MIDI file assignments and play 
parameter settin
 gs for the 16 pads of the selected group.
Save Pattern Group Allows you to save the 16 pads of the current group and their settings as a 
pattern group.
Delete Pattern Group Allows you to dele te a pattern group.
Save Kit Saves the kit. If you try to overwrite  w
 rite-protected factory content, a dialog 
opens that allows you to save the edited kit under a new name.
Save Kit As Allows you to save the kit under a new name.
Remove Kit Removes the kit and its patterns from the slot. 
						

							Managing Your Sounds
Managing and Loading Files19
Revert to Last Saved KitReverts to the kit that was originally loaded on the slot. If the kit was loaded 
w
ithout patterns, only the kit  and no patterns are loaded.
Cut Kit Copies the kit and its patterns and removes it from the slot.
Copy Kit Copies the kit and its patterns.
Paste Kit Pastes the copied kit into the slot. If  th
 e slot already contains a kit, it is 
replaced.
Rename Kit Allows you to rename the kit.
Reset Agent Loads the  In
 it preset of the agent.
Import Allows you to import  MPC 
 and GAK files.
Export Kit With Samples Exports the kit together wi th its associated s
 amples.
NOTE
Samples that are part of protected content, such as the VST Sound content, 
cannot be exported.
Managing and Loading Files
On the Load page, you can switch between the MediaBay  and the Browser . These 
can be used to manage, navigate to, load, and preview different file types.
The  Med
iaBay  gives you access to presets, such as multis and kits.
In the  Browser , you can browse for samples and presets. The Browser  also shows 
samples that are part of VST Sound content.
• To switch between Med
 iaBay and Browser , click the corresponding button 
on the  Load page. 
						

							Managing Your Sounds
Managing and Loading Files20
Managing Files via the MediaBay
In the top section of the MediaBay, you specify which sounds to look for. The lower 
section presents the corresponding results.
• To adjust the size of the two sections, drag the divider at the top of the results  list.
Applying Filters
Category Filter
You can filter the results list based on up to  3 filter criteria using the configurable 
attribute columns. Stan dard attributes are Style and Sub Style .
Only the files that match the filter are displayed in the results list.
•  To define the filter, click on specific values in the columns.
• To refine the filter, select mo r
 e values from other columns.
• To select different filter criteria, click the column header and select a different  attribu
 te from the submenu.
Instrument Set Filter
Use the Select Content Set  pop-up menu to search a specific content set only. By 
default, the search is performe d in all installed content sets.